AI Creative OS
01The real number is 7302Pick a model with a free endpoint03Generate the key04Point your agent at it

Free AI API Keys From NVIDIA

NVIDIA runs a model catalogue where a large slice of the models have a free endpoint you can call from your own code. Here is the real count, the exact flow, and the two catches nobody mentions. Checked on build.nvidia.com, July 2026.
Build it step by stepInteractive · ~3 min · with Z’s build guideStart →
01Not 80+
The real number is 73
On build.nvidia.com/models the header says 138 models and the Filters panel breaks them down: Free Endpoint 73, Partner Endpoint 42, Download Available 106. Every viral post quotes "80+". Today it is 73 — the number moves, so check the facet before you trust anyone's screenshot.
02Step one
Pick a model with a free endpoint
Open the catalogue and switch on the Free Endpoint filter so you only see models you can actually call for nothing. The home page shelf is titled “Use Inference Endpoints — Free inference with leading models” and lists real ones: z-ai glm-5.2, nvidia nemotron-3-ultra-550b-a55b, deepseek-ai deepseek-v4-pro, thinkingmachines inkling.
03Step two
Generate the key
Open the model you want and generate an API key from its page. This is where the first catch bites: you need to be signed in with an NVIDIA account. Free does not mean anonymous.
04Step three
Point your agent at it
The endpoints are OpenAI-compatible, so you set the base URL and the key and carry on. That means Claude Code, Cursor, or your own scripts keep working unchanged — you are only swapping who serves the tokens.
Swapping the endpoint, not the code
export OPENAI_BASE_URL="https://integrate.api.nvidia.com/v1"
export OPENAI_API_KEY="nvapi-..." # from the model page

# then run your existing tool as normal — same SDK, same calls.
# verify the model id on the model's own page before you hardcode it.
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